startup-resources
Startup Resources Everything You Need
Curated list of free and low-cost tools for startups covering marketing, productivity, CRM, time tracking, and project management.
Mar 17, 20228 min read
Vik Chadha
Serial founder, investor, and GP at Unbridled Ventures. Built Backupify (acquired by Datto) and UnifyCX. 25+ years in B2B software.
Articles by Vik Chadha (45)
interviews
Toolkit Cafe Interview It Tools Small Business
ToolKitCafe provides small businesses with curated IT tools, templates, and training — making enterprise-level resources accessible without a dedicated tech team.
Mar 17, 20225 min read
interviews
Hivedesk Interview Time Tracking Software
HiveDesk shares how they built a time tracking and productivity platform for remote teams, balancing employee privacy with the visibility managers need.
Feb 16, 20224 min read
interviews
Beam Our Interview with a Company That Is Reinventing the Toothbrush
Beam Technologies discusses building a smart toothbrush with embedded sensors that tracks brushing behavior and reports data to your phone.
Aug 24, 20125 min read
interviews
Extending Content Reach: BizBrag
BizBrag explains how their social platform helps small businesses extend content reach through cross-network sharing and B2B collaboration.
Jul 26, 20129 min read
interviews
Creating a Startup Around a Domain Name an Interview with Getcom
Get.com co-founder Steven Fruchter on building a Q&A-powered product discovery service, why domain names still matter, and raising $1M before launch.
Oct 14, 20115 min read
interviews
The Dropcam Story Building a Surveillance Startup
Dropcam CEO Greg Duffy on building a consumer-friendly home surveillance startup, pivoting to cloud DVR, and raising a $6M Series A.
Oct 14, 20115 min read
interviews
Launching a Hardware Startup an Interview with Basis
Basis founder Nadeem Kassam on the six-year journey of building a hardware health tracker, raising $9M in funding, and hiring a world-class team in the Bay Area.
Oct 13, 20115 min read
interviews
Saving Your Customers 75 Million the Feefighters Story
FeeFighters saved businesses $75M in credit card processing fees. Stella Fayman shares how they built a comparison marketplace in a deceptive industry.
Oct 13, 20114 min read
interviews
Carpooling the Right Way the Zimride Story
Zimride co-founder John Zimmer on building a $7M-funded ridesharing platform inspired by Zimbabwe's grassroots transit, using Facebook and university partnerships to reach critical mass.
Oct 10, 20114 min read
interviews
Building a College Startup the Fampus Story
22-year-old founder Brittany Brody shares how Fampus became the go-to events platform for college students across seven campuses.
Oct 8, 20116 min read
interviews
Building a Startup in London the Top10 Interview
Top10 co-founder Tom Leathes on raising $3.5M, building a social recommendation platform, and why London is a viable alternative to Silicon Valley.
Oct 7, 20115 min read
interviews
A Physical App Store for a Software Product the Podio Story
Podio co-founder Jon Froda on launching a work platform with a physical App Store in San Francisco and growing to serve BBC, Subway, and BMW.
Oct 1, 20119 min read
interviews
Hire Slow: The Zocdoc Interview
ZocDoc co-founder Cyrus Massoumi shares how the company built a $90M-funded healthcare booking platform by staying focused, investing in customer service, and hiring slowly.
Oct 1, 20116 min read
interviews
Building a Company Around Email the Inboxfever Interview
InboxFever co-founder Doruk Aytulu shares how a TechStars 2011 company built a platform turning email into the remote control of the web.
Sep 30, 20116 min read
interviews
An Interview with Techstars Graduate Fullcontact
FullContact CEO Bart Lorang on raising $1.5M after TechStars, building a contact data API with 100M+ records, and the power of great UX design.
Sep 16, 20113 min read
interviews
The Hipmunk Story an Interview with Adam Goldstein
Hipmunk co-founder Adam Goldstein on building a travel search startup from Y Combinator, raising $5M, and why loyal users matter most.
Sep 16, 20114 min read
interviews
10M Downloads: Traction Games Interview
Traction Games founder Ben Hazzard shares how the Stickman series hit 10 million iOS downloads and what it takes to top the App Store charts.
Sep 12, 20116 min read
interviews
The Road to Entrepreneurship an Interview with Dan Shipper
Dan Shipper on building apps since age 10, launching WhereMyFriends.be and DomainPolish, and why talking to customers before coding is essential.
Aug 8, 201111 min read
interviews
Naming Your Product the Bugsense Interview
BugSense co-founder Panos Papadopoulos explains why they renamed from 'Sfalma,' lessons on naming a developer product, and tips for selling to the developer market.
Aug 4, 20114 min read
interviews
Stay Inspired Not on Auto Pilot an Interview with Fantasticals Founder
Fantastical co-founder Michael Simmons on designing a natural-language calendar app, pricing strategy, and why great design is half the battle.
Jul 3, 20117 min read
resources
Why Online Video Advertising Desperately Needs an Overhaul
Pre-roll ads longer than the video itself, viewers switching tabs to avoid them — online video advertising is broken. Banner ads and subscription models offer a better path.
Jun 18, 20113 min read
resources
How Changing Name Quadrupled Signups
One developer removed the vowels from his web app's name and watched monthly signups jump from 5,000 to 20,000 — with no other changes to the product or site.
Jun 15, 20116 min read
resources
How to Succeed in a Crowded Market
Crowded markets signal proven demand, not a dead end. Strategies for differentiation, niche targeting, and building hard-to-replicate advantages against established competitors.
Jun 12, 20114 min read
startup-resources
Art of Launching Startup
Key strategies for a successful startup launch, from pre-launch audience building and timing to measuring impact and avoiding common mistakes.
Jun 11, 20114 min read
startup-resources
50K Daily Pageviews from a Few Emails
How a bootstrapped developer landed coverage on TechCrunch and The Next Web by emailing just five publications, driving 50,000 daily pageviews at launch.
Jun 11, 20115 min read
startup-resources
Why Your Startup Shouldn't Focus on Growth or Profitability
Growth-first or profit-first? Neither extreme works for most founders. The best path is a middle ground that balances revenue with steady user acquisition.
Jun 11, 20113 min read
resources
Doubled Price, 10x Sales
A bootstrapped developer doubled his software price from $9.99 to $19.99 and saw sales increase tenfold — proving that customers still equate cost with quality.
Jun 10, 20114 min read
resources
Why You Should Earn Revenue From User 7
Before selling to your first customer, give away six licenses — to non-technical testers and journalists. Those free copies will make your paid launch far more successful.
Jun 5, 20113 min read
interviews
Start with Purpose: The Posterous Interview
Posterous co-founder Sachin Agarwal on leaving Apple, going through Y Combinator, and why you should only start a company when the idea won't let you sleep.
Jun 3, 20114 min read
startup-resources
Forget About Raising Capital for Your Startup and Just Build It
Most successful startups launched without outside investment. Stop chasing funding you likely don't need yet and focus on building and shipping your product.
May 20, 20113 min read
resources
Why Building an Api Should Be a Top Priority
An API lets your users extend your product in ways you never imagined, building a community and ecosystem around your app. Here's why it deserves top priority.
May 2, 20113 min read
interviews
Products That Solve Problems Market Themselves the Instagram Story
Instagram's co-founders share how solving a real problem fueled explosive growth, why they chose iOS first, and the one infrastructure decision that saved their launch.
Apr 27, 20113 min read
startup-resources
Why Windows Phone 7 Would Have Failed As a Startup
Windows Phone 7 launched without user testing, shipped missing basic features, and bricked devices with its first update — mistakes that would have killed any startup.
Apr 16, 20113 min read
interviews
20K Downloads in a Day: Sparrow Story
Sparrow co-founder Dominique Leca on how a side project became a Mac email client with 20,000 downloads on launch day and 100K total via the App Store.
Apr 11, 20113 min read
interviews
Think Small Start Small an Interview with Stephen Ou
Stephen Ou shares how weekend projects like iTunes Instant and TwtRoulette went viral, and why thinking small leads to bigger wins.
Apr 8, 20113 min read
interviews
Why Gumroad Is the Next Billion Dollar Startup the Developer Interview
Gumroad founder Sahil Lavingia built the digital goods marketplace in a 48-hour coding sprint. He shares the origin story, early traction, and billion-dollar vision.
Apr 6, 20115 min read
resources
Localscope Tells You What's Close By
Localscope is a social-data-powered GPS app that aggregates Google, Bing, Foursquare, and Twitter results to help you find great spots nearby — with an augmented reality twist.
Apr 3, 20111 min read
resources
Make Sure Your Software Knows What Platform It's For
Porting an app across platforms means more than swapping window chrome. Each OS has unique UI conventions and features your users already expect.
Mar 31, 20112 min read
interviews
A Practice Run That Made It Big – The Wunderlist Story
6Wunderkinder founder Christian Reber reveals how Wunderlist started as a practice project to build buzz — and became one of the top to-do apps worldwide.
Mar 30, 20114 min read
startup-resources
Why Getting Noticed Is the Most Important Step in Startup Success
A great product means nothing without visibility. Craft a one-line pitch, target the right journalists, and tell a compelling story to earn the media attention your startup needs.
Mar 30, 20112 min read
interviews
Turning Down $250,000 for Your Startup – The Crate Story
Crate founder Sahil Lavingia turned down a $250K buyout offer to keep building his file-sharing startup. He shares lessons on launching, growing, and betting on yourself.
Mar 29, 20113 min read
startup-resources
Why Color Will Fail and How Your Social Startup Can Succeed
Color raised $41M pre-launch but ignored the cold-start problem — an empty app on first open drives users away. A staged rollout could have saved it.
Mar 27, 20114 min read
startup-resources
The Success of the Apple Logo and Why Your Startup Needs to Copy It
Apple's logo succeeds through simplicity and instant recognition. Here's why your startup should invest in a clean, memorable icon.
Mar 24, 20112 min read
resources
How Tiny Wings Outflew Angry Birds
Tiny Wings knocked Angry Birds off the top spot with simple addictiveness, score-based competition, and polished design. Key lessons for iOS game developers.
Mar 23, 20114 min read